Mechanism for perforating electric-sign-operating templates



May 20 1924. 1,494,961

Mz-E LAUNBRANCH MECHANISM FOR PERFORATING ELECTRIC SIGN OPERATING TEMPLATES Filed- Oct. .30 1919 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 uw-Wa "Miami-minin May 20 1924. 1,494,967

' I M. E. LAUNBRANCH MECHANISM FOR PERFORATING ELECTRIC SIGN, OPERATING TEMPLATES Filed Oct. 30 1919 3 Sheets-Sheet -2 Manlmflaavzmnok May 20 1924.

1M. E. LAUNBRANCH MECHANISM. FOR PERFDKATING-ELECTRIC SIGN OPERATING TEMPLATES File'd Oct. 30. 1919 s Sheets-Shea} 5 Zmj'lmw amz zgs.

Patented May 20, 1924.

UNITED STATES" MECHANISM FOR PERFORATING nLncrnrc-srenoraaa'rmc TEMPLATES.

Application filed October so, 1919. serial'No. 334,564.

T 0 allauhom it may concern:

Be 1t known that I, MALCOLM E. LAUN' B RA NOH, a citizen of the United States, reslding at Washington, in the District'of (10- lumbia, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Mechanism for Perforating Electric-Sign-Operating Templates, of which the following is a. full, clear, concise, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to mechanism for perforating electric sign operating templates and has for its object the provision of a machine by virtue of which I am enabled to quickly and accurately prepare terminals adapted to control the operation of what are popularlv known as talking signs. Signs of this nature comprise a multitude of sign units, each having means to portray any desired letter or character. Thus by selectively actuating thedifierent units of the sign va-. rious words or a sentence, or any desired illustration or legend may be portrayed upon .the sign.

In my application Serial No. 185,419, filed August 10,- 1917, now Patent No. 1,339,- 566, patented May 11, 1920, I show a device for controlling the operations of a sign of this character in which I have a contactboard so arranged that there are a plurality of parallel rows of contacts, each row having a multiplicity of contacts, one preferably for each lamp of a sign unit. Each row corresponds to a sign unit. There are as many rows as there are sign units. By the selection of the desired contacts in a givenv row any given letter or character may be portrayed in the corresponding sign unit. In the operation of this contact plate I utilize a template having suitable means whichmay be perforations of such a character that one template controls all of the contacts of all of the rows so that the insertion of one template and its positioning in proper form causes the portrayal upon the sign of the desired legend or sentence which it is desired to portray.-

My machine herein is designed to provide means for simply and effectively. manufacturing the templates to be used' in a sign operating device of this character.

One form of carrying outmy invention is more 'articularly. described in connection with t e accompanying drawings,- in which:

Fig. l is a central longitudinal sectional view;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view;

P TEN iomcs.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the carriage and perforating mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line t -4:ofFig.3; I Qj;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary. view of a template produced by the device; i Fig. 6 is a detail of an escapement mecha nism employed; I y i Fig. 7 is a front view of a portion of the template holding and cutting mechanism;

and y Fig. 8 is a Fig.- 7. p I I I In the embodiment of the inventionwas illustrated in the drawings, same includes a, supporting frame 10, tracks 11and 12 and perforating mechanism generally designated 13. The frame 10 carries the roll 14 and is provided with the supporting bars 15 and 16 upon which is mounted the framework of which the tracks 11 and 12 fornra. part. At the oppositeends of this frame; work is arranged the holding andv cutting section taken on line 8 8 of mechanism generally designated and the tensiondevice 18. .This latter device consists ofthe separated bars 19 and-20 and the spring tension member 21, which prevents the material 22 of which the template.

is formed from being accidentally fed from the roll 14. As shown in Fig- 1 this material 22 extends from the roll 14 between the bars 19 and 20 throughout thelength of the machine to the holding and cutting mechanis1n17 provided at the forward end of the frameworln At the opposite end of this framework is arranged the spring actuated reels 23, 23 upon which is wound the tape 24, one end being secured to the bar 25,01: the carriage 1.3. .Thismechanism advances the carriage 13 step by-step each timethe escapement mechanism 26 is operated This escapement mechanism ,co-operates with the ratchet 27 which also extends'throughout thelength of the machine. The carriage13 employs the side frames 28, 28 which have securedqtheretothe anti-friction rollers 29,

29 which ride upon the tracks 11 and 12.

Between these side frames aremoun e the i markers30, die 31, the, means for controlling 5 the operation of the markers, the esca ement operating mechanism, and the rates a- .n'ism' for operating said die;

The means for controlling the operation of these markers is indicated by the numeral 32 and is in this instance shown as consisting of a cylinder having the perforations 33 arranged in parallel rows, each row being provided with indicia which corresponds to thecharacter which the respective rows will form in the sign when the template is positioned for'use. This cylinder is journaled in the side frames and is provided at one end with the hand wheel 34 and at the other with the ratchet wheel and mechanism 34 which holds said'cylinder in adjusted position. It will be understood that the material between these perforations will cause certain markers to act upon the material so that the template formed there-' by will, when placed in operative position, permit certain lamps to be illuminated which form the desired characters inthe several sign units. The ends of theremaining' markers enter the apertures and will have no effect upon the material when the die and markers are moved towards the cylinder.

These markers 30 are mounted in the member 36' which is secured to the side frames, and is arranged immediately below the cylinder 32. Each of these markers extend beyond the opposite sides of this member and are provided with a comparatively light coiled spring 37 which reacts between the face of the member 36 and the pin 38 which rests against another portion of the member 36. Immediately below the member 36 is arranged the cutting die 31 and the block 39, the die and block being secured together and movable towards the markers 30 by a mechanism such as shown and consists of the lever 40 which is pivoted by means of the bar 41 having the levers 42, 42 secured thereto. These levers extend beyond the pivot ll towards the member-.36 where they are provided with the link 43 which has one. end secured to the cross bar 44:, which in turn is secured to the uprights 45 and carry the die 31 and block 39, these being movable upon the guides -16. which are secured to the side fran' es of the carriage.

Thus it can readily be seen that the markers 36 will either be caused to enter the material'22 or be forced into the cylinder by the material depending upon whether or not an aperture or solid portion thereof is presented to the respective markers when the die and block present the material thereto.

As before stated, the carriage tends to move-towards the spring actuated tape reels 23, tll'iShiO'VelIlll'tbeing normally prevented by the escapement mechanism generally des- 1gna-ted26 whichis secured to the bar- 47 of the carriage. This escapement is designed so that when the holding dog 48 is lifted away from the rack 27 the rotatable element 49 moves into the path of the next succeeding tooth and places the dog 48 so thatsame will permit the carriage to move this distance ofone tooth afterthe element 49 has been moved from engagement therewith. This lifting of the dog by the element 49 is accomplished by virtue of the engagement of the lugs 50 and 51 provided upon the dog and rotatable element. To actuate this escapement I provide the levers 52, 52- which are pivoted at 53 and the arm 54 which is connected to the rotatable bar 55, the arms 54 and levers 52 being connected together by the link 56. This rotatable bar 55 has a lever 57 which is attached to the lever 58 which is a part of" the rotatable element 49. Thus by operating the arm 52 the escapement will be operated to permit the advancement of the carriage the distance of one tooth, positioning the markers so that their next operation will cause markings to be made which control the character in the next sign unit. Spaces between the several words of the sign are produced by the operation of the escapement mechanism. An arrangement is also provided whereby the operator can readily determine the particular position a char actor will assume in the sign, and also the particular line in which the letter or character will appear. This means'consists of the pointer 59 and the bar 60 which has produced thereon the spaces 61 which in this instance are numbered 1 to 18','each space representing one of the character units in a given line of the sign. Thus when the pointer is opposite space No. 2 in the first series of 18 the operator will, know that the letter about to be formed will be the second one in line number 1. In this manner spaces between each word in the sign may also .be properly arranged. in the template.

The means 17 provided at the forward end of the framework include the holding mem ber 62 and the cutterbar 63, both of which are movably mounted upon the bar 64- sup ported by the clamping bar 65 The holding member 62 is provided with the serrated edge 66 which clamps the material 22 between the member 62 and said bar. This bar 62 is movable with-relation to the bar 64 having its ends movably mounted in the slots 67 in the uprights 68, being held' against the bar 65 b-y't-he coiled spring 69 which re-acts between the bar 62 and the pin 70. The cutter bar 63 is arranged upon the opposite side of the bar 64: and is also movable with relation thereto, it being normallyheld in its uppermost position by the spring 71 which is arranged inthe slot 72 and re-acts between an edge of this slot and the screw 73 by which thecutter bar is held in position. These bars 62 and 63 are construoted to be'operated by the lever'7 per mitting the clamping bar 62 to be raised without operating the cutter bar 63 and also to operate the cutter bar without operating the clan'iping bar 62. By referring to Figs. 7 and 8, it will be seen that one end of the lever 74; engages the uppermost face 01' the bar 6-3. 'lhuswhcn the .end of the lever nearest the cutter is lowered the cutter will be operated and by virtue of the slot 75 in the holding member 62' this movement of the lever will have no eitect upon this member 62. From this it will also be seen that when this end of the lever is moved in the opposite direction, that is, upwardly, the bar 62 will be lifted away from the clamping bar 65 without operating the cutter 63. This last named feature is of advantage in permitting the material 22 to be extracted from the machine prior to its being severed by the cutting mechanism.

When a given template has been completed' the carriage will assume a position at the endof the machine opposite to that shown in Fig. 1, and as the prior template has been severed atthe cutter some means must be provided for advancing the material so thattheend otthe template justcompl'eted can be presented to the clamping and cutting mechanism. This means includes the bar 25, the clamping member 76 and the lever 77 which are both secured to the rotatable shaft 78 journaled in the side frames. This member 76 does not normally engage the sheet during the travel of the carriage, but is brought to thep'osition shown in Figs. 1 and at by the operator when the carriage has reached. the limit of its travel in one direction so thatthe material will be advanced with the carriage when same is moved to its starting position. This lever -77- is provided with the holding dog 78 which engages the notch 79 to hold. the

clamping member against the bar 25 duringthetime that the material is drawn torward.

When the carriage is in its most forward position these clamping elements must. be released and held in this position so that they will not tend to carry the material with it during the time that the carriage is being operated. Therefore, upon the first operation of the markers the dog 78 is moved out of engagement with the notch 79 which permits the spring 80 to act to release the clamping element 76 from the bar 25. This dog 78 is connected by the link 81 to the arm 82, which arm may be part of the lever 42 and will consequently lift the dog out of said notch when same is operated.

In the claims I use the term markers as signifying the perforating plungers or their equivalents as it may not be necessary in all embodiments of the device to make perforations but to make some other suitable mark by virtue of which the desired result" supporting a teniplate in close proximity to" said markers, a form rotating about afixed axis and having individual means corresponding to the various. letters of the alphabet and other predetermined characters, mechanism whereby any of the aforesaid means of said form are brought into operative relation with said'markers to control the selection of markers corresponding to that particular letter or character, and

means for moving said template toward said markers to imprint the template-in accordance with said selected letter or character.

2; A machine of the character described comprising a plurality of markers each adapted to imprint template, means for supporting a template in close proximity to said markers, a form having individual means corresponding to the various letters of the alphabet and other predetermined char acters, mechanism whereby any of the atore said means of said form are brought into operative relation with said n'iarkers to control the selection of markers corresponding .to that particular letter or character, and

means for moving said template toward said markers to imprint the template in accordance with said selected letter or character,

motion between said template and-"said markers.

A machine of the character describec comprising a plurality of markers arranged and means for causing relative step by step in a row each adapted to imprint a template, means for supporting a template in close proximity to said markers, a form having individual means corresponding to the various letters of the alphabet and other predetermined characters arranged in rows, mechanism whereby any row of the aforesaid means of said form are brought into operative relation with said markers to control the selection of markers corresponding to that particular letter or character, means for moving said template toward said markers to imprint the template in accordance with said selected letter 'or character, and means for causing relative step by step motion between said template and said markers.

t. A machine of the character described comprising a plurality of markers each adapted to imprint a template, means for supporting a template in close proximity to said markers, a form having individual 'means corresponding to the various letters of the alphabet and other predetermined characters, mechanism whereby any of the aforesaid meansof said form are brought into operative relation with said markers to control the selection of markers corresponding to that particular letter or character, means for moving said template toward said markers to imprint the template in accordance with said selected letter or character, and a movable carriage carrying said markers, template support, and form.

5. A machine of the character described comprising a plurality of markers each adapted to imprint a template, means for supporting a template in close proximity to said markers, a form having individual means corresponding to the various letters of the alphabet and other predetermined characters, mechanism whereby any of the aforesaid means of said. form are brought into operative relation with said markers to control. the selection of markers corresponding to that particular letter or character, means for moving said template toward said markers to imprint the template in accordance with said selected letter or character, means for causing relative step bystep motion between said template and said markers, and a movable carriage carrying said markers, temp-late support and form.

6. A machine of the character described comprising a plurality of markers arranged in a row each adapted to imprint a template, means for supporting a template in close proximity to said markers, a form having individual means corresponding to the various letters of the alphabet and other predetermined characters arranged in rows,

mechanism whereby any of the aforesaid means of said form are brought into operative relation with said markers to control the selection of markers corresponding to that particular letter or character, means for moving said template toward said markers to imprint thev template: in accordance with said selected letter or character, and a movable carriage carrying said markers, template support and form.

7. A machine of the character described comprising a plurality of markers arranged in a row each adapted to imprint av template,

means for supporting a template in close' markers, and a movable carriage carrying said markers. template support and form. 8. A machine of the character described comprising a plurality of markers each adapted to imprint a template, means for supporting a template in closeproximity.

to said markers, av hollow cylindrical form provided with rows of openings extending lengthwise thereof, each row corresponding to a letter of the alphabet or other character, means whereby any of the aforesaid rows of said form are brought into operative relation with said markers to control vthe selection of markers corresponding to.

that particular letter or character, and means for actuating the parts aforesaid to imprint the template in accordance with th selected letter or character.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 29 day of Oct. A. D., 1919.

MALCOLM E LAUNBRANCH. 

